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US News & World Report writes that “More than two-thirds of Americans are now overweight or obese, according to new findings published in JAMA Internal Medicine, up from previously reported estimates by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”

The JAMA report is titled “Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity in the United States, 2007-2012.” It states: “Overweight and obesity are associated with various chronic conditions.1 These conditions are considerable health care and societal burdens, yet could potentially be averted by preventing weight gain and obesity. In a prior analysis, now almost 20 years old, Must et al used a nationally representative data set from 1988 through 1994 and reported the US chronic disease burden associated with body mass index (BMI), thus informing clinical practice and the priorities for cost-effective prevention strategies. Using the most recent data in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES, 2007-2012), we updated the prevalence of overweight and obesity by sex, age, and race/ethnicity and compared the values with those of the earlier study.”

The results were stark. According to US News: “The team found that nearly 40 percent of men (36.3 million) and nearly 30 percent of women (almost 28.9 million) were overweight and more than 35 percent of men (31.8 million) and more than 36 percent of women (nearly 35.8 million) were obese​.”

Study author Lin Yang, post-doctoral researcher in the Division of Public Health Sciences at Washington University School of Medicine, told CBS News: “We see this as a wake-up call to implement policies and practices designed to combat overweight and obesity, to implement what we already know into place to accelerate the obesity prevention and treatment,” study author Lin Yang, post-doctoral researcher in the Division of Public Health Sciences at Washington University School of Medicine, told CBS News. “Population-based strategies may help to alter the obesity trend through physical environment interventions, enhancing primary care efforts, and shifting society norms of behavior.”

As the CBS News points out: “Obesity has been linked to a number of serious health problems, from heart disease and diabetes to sleep apnea and depression, and even an increased risk of death.”

Dr. Mitchell Roslin of Lenox Hill Hospital told CBS News: “This generation is not going to outlive its predecessor, and that's pretty amazing,”